Nelly‘s last single, the reader-approved Heaven, was a crossover-friendly ballad with a pro-woman message with a breezy, innocent vibe. On the follow-up, the St. Louis representative pulls a remarkable about-face, channeling the deviant sex appeal of late-‘70s/early-‘80s hitmaker Rick James. While Nelly’s performance sometimes verges on Dave Chappelle-style parody (I’m pretty sure the real Rick James wouldn’t have exclaimed, “I’m rich, b**ch!” in the middle of a song.), he manages to do a quite convincing impression of the funk-soul icon’s flamboyant delivery. Pharrell Williams mans the boards, turning in a grimy bassline worthy of the man behind Super Freak, and T.I. contributes a suave closing verse. Nelly’s seventh album, M.O., is slated to drop September 30, via Derrty/Universal Motown . Click here to pre-order the set on iTunes!

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St. Louis rap veteran Nelly has released his latest album-length collection of original material, M.O.. The follow-up to 2010's 5.0, it is the artist's seventh album in total.
Included among its 12 tracks are Booth-featured...
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